If you are none of the above, then perhaps you should reevaluate your life stop reading. For the rest of you…

This is where the good stuff is.

Nana’s cookies have always been my absolute favorite. I’ve tried MANY dairy free desserts, and there’s always something a little bit off about the flavor/texture/whatever, but not with Nana’s. They are SO soft and chewy. They bend like they are fresh out of the oven and literally have a gooey center that makes you wonder if there’s some kind of magic involved in Nana’s recipe. I’m not exaggerating when I say they are completely perfect in every way. I’m convinced there is no better cookie. Anywhere. Oh, and did you know they are certified gluten free? Yeah.

They are also vegan, sweetened with 100% natural fruit juice.

Last week I got a big package in the mail…and quickly dug in. The coconut chip was the first flavor I tried because I had never seen it before in stores.

It had a subtle coconut flavor with a soft baked oaty texture.

They were unbelievably moist and chewy. Unbelievable, as in, I couldn’t believe I was eating a packaged cookie. I can’t be any more enthusiastic about it.

The cookie is sweet, but in a mellow way that makes you want to eat a dozen more in one sitting. And the occasional chocolate chip puts the yum factor over the edge.

The next cookie I tried was peanut butter.

Just like the rest of Nana’s cookies, it was vegan and delicious.

Every time I try a new flavor I swear it’s my favorite one. And this has happened with the last 4 flavors I’ve tried. So if you ask me which is my favorite, I’d have to say all of them. Or whichever one I had just had. Or whichever one I was about to have. Seriously. I could never choose.

I got a Brazilian Blowout today. Thanks to Groupon, it was nearly half price (although once I added in the tip and shampoo/conditioner it was basically full price).

I’m happy to say, my ‘fro is now going to be well maintained with ZERO effort on my part…at least for the next 90 days…

In the food realm, I had a really rough night. Top Chef had me sweating for a full hour, but in the end my boy Blais came through. Phew! It was nail biting and my poor stomach was in knots the entire time. Fortunately, my meals were the opposite of intense – after all, I pretty much aim for soothing (read: IBS-friendly) eats on a daily basis.

I was out and about much of the day and there’s nothing interesting new about apples, veggies and hummus so my camera is on the emptier side.

However, one of the day’s snacks is definitely worth sharing. I received a package in the mail yesterday from Caveman Cookies. I met the reps at Expo West and was so excited about their cookies, I knew I had to try them out and share them with you guys.

The Caveman Bakery makes three flavors – original, alpine, and tropical – all of which are dairy and gluten free. Oh and I discovered something else! They’re all based on the caveman diet (which I only just learned about).

Unbeknownst to me this is a way of eating that’s built on the diet of primitive man (hence the caveman term). It’s basically the paleo diet, a holistic approach to eating that emphasizes the foods humans “grew up on” like vegetables, fruit & nuts. Supposedly our bodies are best able to digest and enjoy these kinds of foods, rather than ones that have been recently introduced into the human diet (like grains and dairy). In theory I like this idea because it encourages people to nix processed foods, which reduces refined sugars, saturated and trans fats, salt, high-glycemic carbohydrates, which lead to obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and numerous other health problems. Although The Paleo Diet isn’t vegan (lean meats are included in the diet), it does encourage people to replace processed food and dairy products with fresh fruits and vegetables.

The first flavor I chose was the original…since it contains honey it isn’t vegan. I love how pure the ingredients are though, with just honey, almond meal, walnuts, raisins, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon.

They were much smaller than I expected, but I guess that makes sense as each cookie is only 60 calories.

They were kinda chewy like a cross between cookie dough and fruit leather. The texture was awesome because the nuts were undetectable, but there was still a hint of crispy crunch with raisins mixed in too. It reminded me a lot of a molasses cookie…with a touch of gingerbread flavoring. Definitely yummy.

For dinner I made a rice pasta dish featuring PeacockRice Vermicelli.

This product is hard to come by, and is pretty much an online only item at the moment.

For a person who is not so keen on pasta dishes (Italian is probably my least favorite), rice pasta has recently made me a convert. I’ve had it several times in the past few months. The silky fine noodles are so delicate and soak up sauce like nobody’s business. And yet, nutritionally speaking, they are almost the Black Swan to my idyllic carbohydrate choice (whole sprouted grains). What can you do.

The best part about this pasta, is the fact that it takes all of 5 minutes to cook. Seriously. Because the pasta is so stringy, once added to boiling water it’s done before you can even set the table. I added frozencorn and for the ultimate lazy girl sauce, I used Sabraspinach and artichoke hummus.

I used a LOT of hummus.

Swirly, swirly.

It was probably the fastest meal I’ve ever made.

And since Kyle wasn’t paying attention as I cooked dinner, he thought it involved a lot of time and effort. Muahaha. I’m such a good sneaky wife.

I had a plate full of carob chips for dessert, while Kyle made a ghetto ‘smore.

What is a ghetto ‘smore? Watch and learn.

Break off parts of a Snickers bar and place it on a halved graham cracker.

In November I was bragging about how great the 80 degree weather was. And then in January I was happily soaking up the sun’s rays on the beach. And now it’s March and the weather is cold and dreary!? What gives?

Since it’s LA, I know it won’t last too long, but I have to say, these stormy skies and rain clouds aren’t fun at all.

Breakfast came really late on Saturday. After saying goodbye to my sis (until we reunite in Europe in May), Kyle and I drove back to Santa Monica so I could get a loooong night’s sleep in preparation for Saturday’s night shift.

I didn’t get up until after 10 am, and didn’t eat breakfast until almost noon.

To get the day under way, I painted a Alvarado Streetsprouted tortilla with Sunbutter. Look how caked on it was! I’m a modern day Van Gogh 🙂

I jazzed up the breakfast quesadilla with thinly sliced apples, then topped it with cinnamon and folded it into thirds.

If a PB&J sammie had a menage a trois with a quesadilla and a fruit basket, this would be the love child. Except instead of peanut butter I used sunflower seed butter.

Wrap-tastic.

In between Jillian and basketball games, there was a fair amount of snacking. I had the rest of the tropical dried fruit and two more bowls of nuts, raisins, and carob chips than pictured. I have to say, salt is amazing.

Before heading into the office hospital, I pre-gamed with another sprouted tortillawrap. This one was more traditional with ‘shrooms, spinach, butternut squash and hummus.

Even though my pre-shift appetite was pretty much non-existent, I had a feeling it would kick in at some point (most likely around midnight). The solution? A snack-esque meal. Leftoverwhite bean dip with various scoop-ables fit the bill. Snyder’sgluten-freepretzels were good, but I actually prefer the spelt ones by Newman’s or 365 brand.

I also packed some veg in the form of blanched broccoli,raw carrots and red bell peppers. Cold crudités have never tasted so good. They were crisp and crunchy and I craved 200 more. Needless to say, the bean dip was gone by midnight, as expected. The apples suffered a similar fate.

When I got home, there were leftover waffles calling my name. They were so hearty and flavorful, this may be the best batch I’ve tried yet! They were so tasty, they required absolutely nothing on top.

A shower and warm glass of almond milk (with a few drops of NuNaturalsvanilla stevia) later, I was ready to tuck into bed. Lucky for me, Kyle was still asleep (this was his last weekend of spring break) so I was actually able to fall into a semi-deep slumber. I didn’t wake up until 11:30 – a personal record!

The next day was the same old, same old.

I had a big bowl of fruit, followed by a snickerdoodle cookie.

The wrapper is all I managed to capture on film because it was THAT good. Alternate Baking Company makes a mighty fine cookie, but it wasn’t as chewy as Nana’s.

Like the rest of ABC’s cookies, this flavor is 100% vegan (sans dairy, eggs, hydrogenated oils, or artificial ingredients). Unlike the other flavors, Snickerdoodle is one of the two wheat-free flavors (the other one is Mac the Chip).

As you can see, the ingredients are wholesome, but the nutritional stats are still pretty dessert-like. I’m not saying I take issue with this – it is a cookie after all – but the fact that the cookie is two servings brings the totals to an area that I would pretty much designate for treats alone. That said, it was a huge cookie! I liked the first few bites, but by the end, there was an after-taste that was less like dessert and more like a non-wheat flour. Yes, I know that taste. It was like gluten free pancake batter. Kinda weird.

Nana’s still occupies the #1 spot in my heart for sure, but I plan of trying the rest of ABC’s cookie flavors (just to be extra sure).

My odd lunch was created out of desperation. The empty fridge turned me to the freezer…which led to a pita pizza.

Topped with Sabra’sartichoke spinach hummus and a crumbled up vegan Bocaburger. It may sound ghetto, but it was actually awesome.

I again filled the afternoon with basketball, Jillian, and couch time with my beau. ‘Aint no shame in soaking up the rainy day inactivity, right?

Just before work, I made a grilled cheese sammie with Almond Cheddar Styleveg cheese.

I’m not sure what to make of this product (by Lisanatti Foods), because it was good, but nothing like cheese. I think I liked it, but it shouldn’t be compared to other veg “cheeses.”

Once I got over the fact that it in NO way resembled real cheese (or Daiya) I enjoyed it for what it was. A flavorful sandwich option. It didn’t really taste or melt like cheese, but then it didn’t taste like almonds either. I can’t think of how to describe it. I doubt I’d buy it regularly (kinda $$$ to be a fridge staple), but it’s a nice option every once in a while.

As far as nutritionals go, it’s a winner. Sure, it’s a processed food, but it’s definitely in a different category from cheetos. It should be noted that this products does contain casein (however, I had no GI reactions).

Anyway, with that, I was off to work. Another weekend spent in scrubs and PJs…

Do you eat breakfast in your pajamas or work clothes? Or does it vary?

I avoid doing anything in my scrubs. I ditch them within seconds of stepping foot in the door and almost always shower before I do anything else (especially eating). However, when I work day shifts, I’m typically at work for breakfast and therefore in scrubs.

Monday started bright and early (well, if we are being technical about it, I never went to bed Sunday night…sooo…I guess it started at the stroke of midnight?). Whatever. I got home around 8 am and immediately showered, put on my PJs, and started some oats on the stove.

I added a chopped gala to cook with the oats. By the way, this was a pretty hefty batch (in the 2 cup range).

Can you believe this bowl was only half the yield? I was feeling crazy so I decided to bust open a brand spankin’ new jar of nutbutter to add in.

I can’t even tell you how thrilling this was to find. I randomly stumbled upon this company’s booth at Expo West, and after seeing Sunbutter throughout the blog world, I couldn’t help but try a sample (or three). I tried creamy, natural, and natural chunky and (obviously) wound up licking the spoon full of natural sunbutter clean.

And that, my friends, is how sunflower seed butter found it’s way into my life. I am determined to try every single flavor now. It is so good! I can’t really think of a good way to describe it – it tastes like ground up sunflower seeds.

Sunflower seeds are packed with Vitamin E, which is the body’s primary fat-soluble antioxidant. By neutralizing free radicals, it’s anti-inflammatory effects can result in reduced symptoms for chronic conditions like asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis (read: conditions where free radicals and inflammation are the key causes). The antioxidant properties of Vitamin E have also been shown to significantly reduce the risk of atherosclerosis. I don’t want to get too scientific on you, but Vitamin E prevents free radicals from oxidizing cholesterol (and cholesterol can only adhere to blood vessel walls after it’s been oxidized).

Cardiovascular disease prevention AND delicious flavor?! Win win.

I love healthy food that tastes like it’s sinfully good.

After my second bowl, I found my eyes drooping. Somehow I never made it to the bedroom though, and an hour later I woke up to the ladies of The View screaming. Yikes. I can’t imagine a worse alarm clock.

For second breakfast (because I always wake up from naps feeling jittery and hungry), I had a bowl of Love Grown cocoa goodness.

Kyle got home around noon and all hopes of getting more than an hour of sleep went out the window. He studied quietly while I organized the apartment.

Then I snacked my way to the bottom of this hummus. Serving sizes shmerving schmizes. I thought an afternoon jog would pep me up, but my run was pretty uninspired. I’m bored with my running music.

Because I worked night shift the previous night, I was ready for dinner at 5 pm. Early bird special? Sure why not. I asked Kyle if he wanted pizza and he was all about it.

Unlike last time, I decided to make two personal pizzas rather than one HUGE pie.

Doughy.

These were pretty massive for the term “personal pizza” to still apply, but you know how my appetite is. I baked them at 350 for 15 minutes, after which they were nicely browned and had risen a bit.

Kyle suddenly changed his tune about eating dinner at a senior citizen hour once he smelled the hot-from-the-oven dough.

To start, I added red sauce, fresh tomatoes, and bell peppers to each of our pizzas.

A good solid red and orange colored base.

After this, our pizzas went in pretty different directions…

His went cheesy, while mine went noochy.

Cheddar & parmesan.

Baked eggplant & nutritional yeast.

Back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Ding!

Dinner time :) His was perfectly melted.

But my pizza wasn’t quiiiiite ready.

There we go! [Nothing is complete without hummus]

Now doesn’t that look yummy!

Kyle was pretty stoked on his too…a meal well worth the study break.

Would you believe me if I said we both cleaned our plates? Because that’s exactly what happened.

Taking photos only slowed me down momentarily…and then I was back at it.

Chowing piece by piece.

Sorry for the insane number of photos…it was so pretty and the lighting was outstanding. Daylight savings has me loving the extra sunny time.

Post pizza beer belly left me feeling perfectly satisfied.

More than anything, I wanted to go to bed right then (despite the fact that it was 6 pm and still light out). My body wasn’t into it. I think my body and I have differing opinions on what’s considered a proper amount of sleep. Ideally, I’d like 6 hours. My body, on the other hand, considers 3-4 hours a perfectly fine amount of snoozing. WTF!?! So infuriating.

To help soothe myself into a sleepy mood, I made a big mug of ginger tea. I tried this stuff at the Natural Foods Expo this last weekend and loved it. However, when I went to make it myself from the sample packet, I obviously jacked up the ratio of water to mix.

It was SO effing strong, I thought my nose hairs were going to singe off just bringing the mug to my lips. No joke. I choked down a couple of sips before pouring the rest out. Oops!

I haven’t had very many interesting things to share. The weather went from shorts and tank-top temperatures to bundle in layers degrees. Don’t you gauge the season by outfits, too?

I still fit a 4 mile run in yesterday between stuffing my face with brownies.

One, two, buckle my shoe unbuckle my belt…

Okay, okay, I didn’t JUST have brownies (as if you’d judge me either way).

I had a huge bowl of nearly-spilling-over-the-edge oatmeal.

1 cup whole rolled oats

1 apple, chopped

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

dash of cinnamon

drip of NuNaturals’vanilla stevia

Perfection

My evening was uneventful. Kyle and his waffle team are working furiously on their big presentation this week, so I was left to my own devices for the entire day. Amazingly, I got very little accomplished, unless you count clearing out the DVR.

Dinner was simple.

Sweet potato stuffed with hummus (a new flavor!) with a steamed kale and carrot salad and falafel crumbled on top.

One half of the sweet tater had the last bit of the old Sabra flavor (roasted pinenut), while the other side had the new kind (spinach and artichoke).

This was confusing for my taste buds. It really didn’t have enough chickpea or tahini flavor going on and for me, it was mostly like a spinach artichoke dip. It was good, but shouldn’t be categorized as a hummus. Make no mistake, I enjoyed it thoroughly (and definitely added heaps more after taking the photo).

For dessert, I opted to nix the brownies (lest I OD in under 24 hours), and chose a new-to-me Clif MOJO.

Sweet & Salty Trail Mix Bar…mmmm…

These bars are perfect in satisfying either kind of craving – salty AND sweet. The crushed pieces of pretzels and mini butterscotch chips are drool inducing. Try as I might to slowly savor the bar, I still scarfed it in under a minute.

I may have to attempt a home-made replication of this soon. It was friggin’ awesome.

After dessert, I packed up my work food for the day and started settling into my PM routine.

Work was work.

Jillian-ed it up with The Shred at 4:30 am then broke the fast with coffee and an apple.

My main course for lunch was steamed kale topped with spaghetti squash and vegan Field Roast (and subsequently doused in Bragg’s liquid aminos).

Oops, I still owe you all that Field Roast review, huh? Ok, I’ll get on that 🙂

Don’t tell Kyle, but me and Nana are starting to have an affair. This is my 3rd in a week. 😉 Ginger is one of the best flavors.

Whoever is the grandchild of “Nana” is SO effing lucky. These cookies are out of control. I’ve tried every flavor and they are all perfect. Chewy, gooey, and melt in your mouth sweet.

Best of all they don’t shoot your blood glucose through the roof. Always a plus. My only complaint is that the serving size is 1/2 a cookie. Because it’s BS to think that anyone could eat half of one of these babies and call it a day. I dare you.

The rest of the snack pack included raw cauliflower and carrots with Sabrahummus, two apples, and mucho candied ginger.

I have to share a photo that I took on my lunch break (with my phone’s camera) because, well, you’ll see…

I’m sorry about the quality (my blackberry is certainly no iPhone) and the odd angle (I was trying to be semi-incognito), but as you can see here, some mighty fine characters hang around the hospital. Allow me to draw attention to his plastic gold stunna shades, his ghetto phabulous chain necklace, and his beach blanket (a pile of stripped clothes). The best part of all, however, which is sadly not caught on film, is that this was mid-exercise. Mid-crunches, to be specific. Let me tell you, the guy had spectators. It was a scene. Anyway. I thought you may enjoy it. It definitely made my lunch break that much more entertaining.

When I got home I did some damage to the brownies and eventually contemplated dinner. More on that later…

I’ve been having a damn near impossible time finding Sabra in stores, so that’s why I found it necessary to stock up on enough to feed an army (as if I need an excuse). Still, it’s comforting to know that should disaster strike, I’m good for a while.

Side note: why are the LA Whole Foods only carrying one kind of hummus nowadays? I’m not okay with this. It has drastically reduced my (previously) record breaking chickpea consumption.

Dinner was a seitan stir-fry that I was able to throw together in less than 10 minutes.

I struggled through the first few hours of work, feeling pretty yucky.

I had an apple around 11 pm, but didn’t feel like anything else at all. Fortunately I had Yogistomach ease tea with me, which helped sooth my system.

By 1 am I was starving, so even though my GI tract wasn’t game, my priorities were all about ending the growling. More fiber probably wasn’t the best dinner option, but it’s all I had…leftoverlentil loaf with butternut squash on a bed of spinach.